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Myths of Exercise

Over the many years I have been involved with physical activity, my degree, training thousands, working in gyms and witnessing all the strange myths that cropped up and indeed still do from time to time. And regardless how much I have told people, they still look at me with disbelieving eyes as if they would rather not hear the truth. I guess, at the end of the day every person wants a ‘quick fix’ and the fact that you’re explaining to them that this is not possible kind of ruins their vision of what exercise is really all about.

Spot reduction:

Right, thought it would be best to start with the most prolific myth as this one comes up so very often. Many individuals have approached me and asked for an exercise that would tone up a specific area on their body. Now I know I am generalising, but 99% of people that ask this question are NOT talking about toning muscle. They are mostly always referring to toning body fat but think you are able to turn excess fat into muscle or visa versa if you gave up exercising. To be able to turn fat into muscle or muscle into fat would be like changing a Jack Russel into Kelly Brook, I can dream! Ha ha! Muscle is one thing and fat is something else. Subcutaneous fat sits on top of the muscle and depending how much fat you have, this equates to how much of the muscle you can see.

Ok, let’s use an analogy… If you placed a pillow in the middle of your bed and a duvet over the top of the pillow. It all depends how thick the duvet is (Tog) to how much of the pillow you can see. Thus, if you had a 30 Tog Duvet vs a light sheet which is exactly the same with muscles and subcutaneous fat. So, the more body fat is used as fuel, the more toned muscle you will see. Now back to that miracle exercise to lose fat in one area… Unfortunately, this cannot be done and is referred to as ‘spot reduction’ in our fitness world. Believe me, if I could I would be on a yacht somewhere in the Caribbean right now as I would be a multi-millionaire. Think of the multi-billion-pound industry of Liposuction, if I were able to give you an exercise that lost fat in one area I could undercut the Liposuction business and make a fortune. But the reality is I cannot and this is why some people get fat cells sucked out this way.

When we exercise, we use two main fuels which is carbohydrates/Glucose and fat with the latter being the primary fuel for Aerobic work. When we utilise larger muscle groups such as leg muscles, the metabolic demand increases using glucose from carbohydrate intake and also during endurance activities, we use fat and this is referred to as ‘beta-oxidation’. Again, I will use an analogy… Did you ever light a candle in a science class at school and place a glass over the top to see what happened? Well if you did, you’ll know that the flame died due to the lack of oxygen within the glass as the naked flame was using oxygen to burn the wick. Once the oxygen was used up, the flame could not continue burning. So imagine our body at rest is similar to the lit candle and we are breathing in oxygen to help burn fat as the fuel. Therefore, we are taking part in aerobics without the leotard, very 80’s I know… Now think of us using large muscle groups (legs) and that metabolic rate increasing. Again similar to the candle, the larger the flame, the more oxygen is required. You will find that suddenly breathing in through your nose would not be sufficient, your chin will drop and you’ll begin breathing air through a larger hole in your face which is your mouth of course unless you have another? We are now working aerobically and at a higher rate while using fat as a fuel at a higher rate also, great! But where is the fat coming from I hear you ask? The answer is wherever the body decides it wishes to take it from. Ok, another analogy… If your car was like your body then it wouldn’t have a fuel tank and instead would have fuel on the front seats, back seats, in the boot etc… Then as you drove down the road, your car would take fuel from the back seats, under the bonnet or wherever it decided and this is the human body using fats. It’s the same if you ate a tonne (not literally) of junk food and tried to tell your body where to store the fat, impossible. Everyone is different and some lose it from their face first, some other areas. But we do not get a say in this unfortunately and exercise is only part of the whole weight management story as 80% of this tale has to be diet related. This means, changing eating habits (covered in a previous blog you can read), changing behaviours/habits and quality of food.

The long and short of it is, there is ‘no quick fix’. Applying behaviour/diet changes along with altering bad habits, utilising calories (fuel) by regular effective exercise in turn increasing your metabolic rate while you train whilst also at rest is the way we should be thinking.

I do hope this all made sense and there will be plenty more advice in different areas within the coming weeks/months on this blog… 09.11.2016

The Dangers of Unregulated Online Dating Websites

This subject is a strong part of why I started Encaptivated Singles. As it seems to be so prolific now that 99% of dating sites are unsafe as they are purely looking at the profit margin and not the safety/welfare of the customers that join. I mean, if you worked as a doorman in a nightclub you wouldn’t just allow someone in wearing a mask or looking suspicious or under age so why should it be different with dating sites?

I know you can never completely rule out someone strange or that has a history of crime, but in my view it is our responsibility to do everything we can within our power to make online dating as safe as we possibly can. Read this article on Tinder & Grinder and this is exactly what I am talking about as there are so many fake profiles/scammers that it is not surprising that this kind of thing could happen. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/03/16/crimes-linked-to-tinder-and-grindr-increase-seven-fold/

When I started the business, I made it compulsory for an ID check via photo ID, but found this to be scaring people off so decided to personally screen and check each potential member’s profile and subsequently have been successful in deleting many scammers/fakes from the offset. But in the future, I would like to bring this back in to play as I believe it is essential as one of the vital steps keeping our customers safe. We also give some very useful tips on safe dating and provide a video chat facility so people are able to see the other person face to face prior to meeting them and this is something we highly recommend. The business should be 100% about quality and not quantity as we do not wish to leave our customers open to abuse or worse.

But it is not only about safety, but also about effective dating and how could this be possible when 80% of the members are fake profiles. The chances of finding someone special would be hard to impossible and reminds me of the machines you get in the arcades where a crane picks up a fluffy toy. The machines are designed to make you keep plugging money in knowing you will never get the toy as they have set the crane to fail each time. Isn’t this what a lot of dating sites are doing with their members? Food for thought people, stay safe… 07.11.2016

Healthy Eating Basics

Many of us feel we consume a healthy diet, although possibly ignore some of the hidden areas that we place in the ‘denial’ section of our mind shall we say. For starters (pardon the pun ) we are generally programmed to eat more food in one meal than we really should. You must remember as a child having your Mum or Dad telling you that you must finish your meal to grow big and strong, eating your carrots so you can see better and vegetables to give you hair on your chest. Although the last one may not apply to all you ladies, well let’s hope not. ha ha! You were possibly given an incentive to finish your plate such as sweets or desert. And while this would have seemed harmless as a child as it was an act of love and wishing for you to be healthy. It actually was forming a negative behaviour or habit to eat more than you really should. Unfortunately, we are the product of our childhood or what I like to call ‘The unfinished business of childhood’ which goes into many other areas that I will have to cover in another blog.

Your blueprint for eating habits would have been written as a child so you can blame your parents for that. It is not all bad news though as us humans are particularly good at adapting, although this will take some conscious thought before it becomes sub-conscious or automatic. Ask yourself this, when you get to the end of your meal do you feel full? Do you feel tired and sluggish? Do you have to undo your belt slightly and give out a big satisfied sigh? If the answer is yes then you could possibly be over eating and again it is not your fault, but what you are programmed to do. You may have also heard of the phrase ‘little and often’ and in the western world we seemed to have got this quite wrong. Our metabolism is fastest in the morning and slows down as the day progresses. Ultimately this means we should have the larger meals in the morning hence why it’s common to hear that breakfast is the most important meal of the day as we have fasted for 8 – 10 hours But also our metabolism is running like a Gerbil that’s had a double espresso. By the end of the day when our resting metabolic rate is slowest, we should indeed have the smaller meals but we all know that in reality this is definitely not the case and have a big meal with our metabolism struggling to keep up. ‘Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper’ is another great saying and so very true reflecting exactly what I have just described to a tee.

Eat slowly… We have things called ‘satiation centers’ within our brain that tell us when we are satisfied. Thus, when we eat too fast is a bit like jumping in front of a speeding car and shouting stop! Obviously, the car would over-shoot the mark which is exactly what you would do when your brain has told you that you have had enough. Eat slower and this will give your brain time to let you know when you are satisfied. And this is the conscious thought on your part as you will need to recognise this feeling so you know when you have had enough food for your body. It will feel strange at first of course, as you won’t have the ‘over full’ feeling that you are used too. But give it twenty minutes or so and you’ll feel fine, more sprightly and more importantly your body will have just the right amount of food at that particular time. Remember, excess food needs to be stored as energy or fuel so the fat cells are an ideal place, but this is not what we want is it?

Drinking enough water per day? How much is enough I hear you say? At least two litres or 8 glasses but I prefer the two litres measure as bottled water is cheap enough so if you finish a bottle in a day then you’re drinking enough, but be sure to add to this if you are exercising as this is the basic requirement. Water also helps with weight loss as it assists in the transportation of fats, aids as an appetite suppressant and more importantly our body needs water as this makes up 80% of the human body. It runs through our blood stream in the form of blood plasma, it’s between our cells within the body and regulates body temperature. But it also keeps you hydrated, keeps your skin young and fresh while also flushing your kidney’s through so very very good for you.

To summarise:

1. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince & dinner like a pauper.

2. Eat until you are comfortable and not over full, so listen to your body.

3. Eat slowly to allow your body time to tell you have had enough.

4. Drink at least 2 litres of water a day. :) 02.11.2016

The more we pay, the better the service. Is this true?

I think we automatically assume that when we are looking for excellence then you get what you pay for. Although is this always the case, especially when related to online dating websites. There really seems to be no regulation or at the very least little standards when it comes to who is allowed to populate dating websites and it seems to be getting worse rather than better. Don't get me wrong, the free dating sites are a wash of fakes, scammers and all kinds as the more faces they have on the site, the more people join and the more they get paid via third party advertisers so they are clearly happy. But where does this leave the general public? But back to the question of ‘you get what you pay for’ and if you pay lots for dating, will this prolific issue change? I have had personal experience on both the free, intermediate paid site and also the top of the range and found fake profiles and scammers on them all. Do even the top dating sites care whether you’re a real person if you pay them membership fee or are they happy to take anyone in as it’s all profit? And this is not just me saying this as I own a dating site myself, but I have spoken to many people who have all said the same thing so something has to change.

This disgust of people parting with money or even not as the case may be was part of the ethos behind Encaptivated Singles. I want our reputation to spread with fakes/scammers thinking twice when they view our website knowing they will just be deleted from the offset. Also for real like-minded people that are truly looking to find someone special to feel safe from the fakes, share anything they wish with confidence and know that the person talking back to them is real. To me it’s all about quality rather than quantity as you could see a website with thousands of members but what percentage are real and what percentage of those will try to scam you?

This is the first of many weekly blogs where I will discuss various topics including fitness, health and healthy living, dating, romance, relationships and much more. Hope you all enjoy reading them and look forward to the next one… 01.11.2016